Conductor support



NOV. 1, 1938. J J TAYLOR 2,135,360

CONDUCTOR SUPPORT Filed Feb. 20, 1955 INVENTOR I fohnI Kay/or ATTORNEY Patented Nov. 1, 1938 CONDUCTOR SUPPORT John J. Taylor, Wadsworth, Ohio, assignor to The Ohio Brass Company, Mansfield, Ohio, a corporation of New Jersey Application February 20, 1936, Serial No. 64,859

7 Claims. (Cl. 173-313) This invention relates to conductor clamps for insulators of the post or pin type, and has for one of its objects the provision of a simple and effective clamp for securing a conductor on top of an insulator and one which will be more effective than the tie wire heretofore used for this purpose.

A further object of the invention is to provide a conductor holder for a pin type insulator which E is large enough to permit slight pivotal movement upon the upper element of the pintle 85 without relative sliding of the bearing surfaces. This, as will be seen from Fig. 3, locates the axis of the pivotal movement substantially in horizontal alignment with the longitudinal axis of the cable in the conductor seat. This pivotal movement will not tend to shift the cable in a longitudinal direction and will produce less bearing pressure 10 will not produce radio disturbances. at the end of the cable seat than would be the 10 A further object of the invention is to provide a case if the axis of pivotal movement were either pivoted clamp that can be mounted on the top of above or below the longitudinal axis of the cable. an insulator and that will hold the conductor If the axis of the cable were above the pivfirmly against movement in the direction of its otal axis of the cradle iii, any longitudinal stress axis but will yield to vertical vibrations of the on the cable would produce a moment tending to 15 conductor so as to avoid bending at the clamp. rotate the cradle upon its axis, due to the lever -A further object of the invention is to provide arm between the axis of the cable and the pivotal a device of the class named which shall be of axis of the seat. This would cause one end of the improved construction and operation. seat to press against the cable, forming a node Other objects and advantages will appear from for the cable vibrations, and an initial stress 20 the following description. tending to aggravate fatigue at the node pro- The invention is exemplified by the combinaduced by the pressure of the end of the cable tion and arrangement of parts shown in the Seat against the cable. Furthermore the moment accompanying drawing and described in the folof the seat pressing one end against the cable lowing specification, and it is more particularly would hold the seat locked against free movement 25 pointed out in the appended claims. upon its pivot, thus neutralizing the benefits of In the drawing: the pivotal mounting, insofar as it relieves the Fig. 1 is an elevation with parts in section efiects of vibration. With the construction showing one embodiment of the present invention, shown, however, any unbalanced longitudinal Fig. 2 is a top plan-view, partly in section, stress on the cable willbe exerted directly in line 30 0 the device shown in Fig. 1. a with the pivotal axis of the seat and hence will Fig. 3 is half elevation and half section of the produce no rotating moment of the seat. clamp shown in Figs. 1 and 2. If the pintles were fixed to the cradle and rested The numeral l0 designates any insulator of in bearings in the supporting ears, the pivotal rothe post or pin type having a recess in its upper tation would be about the lowest element of the 33 end in which an insert H is secured by cement pintle rather than the top element, and it would I2. The insert H carries a clamp base 13 havbe n ry t raise the pintle an amount equal ing upwardly projecting ears i l on which are to its own diameter as compared with the armounted a pair of inwardly extending axially rangement o F 3, in O e o bring e p valigned pintles l5, one on each of the ears I4. otal axis in alignment with the longitudinal axis 40 An elongated conductor seat or cradle I6 is pmof the cable. This, of course, would increase-the vided with a pair of laterally extending bosses l1, e tive l ngth of the nse a ov its DOint of each of which is provided with a downwardly embedment in the insulator and thus add to the opening pocket 8 for receiving a pintle l5. The bending moment of the force exerted by the conupper end of each pocket [8 is closed by a bridge ductor on the insulator. By connecting the 5 bar l9 which rests on the pintle l5 and supports pintles t0 the pp t rather than o the e, th radl I6. It ill b seen th t b a th the cantilever action on the insulator is decreased pockets I8 are open at their lower ends, the because of this difference in lever arm length. cradle l6 may be readily set down over the pintles Although the table S pp rests y ty 5.) l5 and will be pivotally supported by engagement upon its pintles, it sometimes happens that the between the pintles l5 and their cooperating bearcontour of the conductor line is such that there is ing bridges 19. The conductor seat or cradle IS an uplift on the conductor, which would tend to will rest in place by gravity and has pivotal raise the cradle off of its supporting insulator. movement about the line of contact ,at the top of To avoid any possibility of accidental displacethe pintle l5. The bearing pocket of the pintle ment, the bolts which hold the keeper on the 55 conductor are made to serve the additional function of locking the cable seat in place. These bolts are designated by the numeral 20 and extend up through the pockets i8 just inside the ends of the pintles i5. The lower ends of the bolt shanks are squared to fit the pockets i8 so as to hold the bolts against rotation and each bolt is provided with a head 2i which engages the cradle it at the lower end of the pocket i8.

ihe outer edge of the bolt head 2!, as will be seen from Fig. 8, bridges the portion of the pocket into which the pintle i5 projects, thus locking the pintle in the pocket and preventing accidental displacement of the cradle from its bearing. It will also be noted that the outer square face of the bolt shanlr engages the inner ends of the pivot studs so as to prevent transverse movement of the cradle. Any lateral force on the conductor will be counteracted by pressure on the ends of the pintles it which will withstand the force without producing any serious friction to interfere with the pivotal movement of the cradle.

The upper ends of the bolts engage a keeper 22 by means of which the cable is clamped in the seat i6. The keeper 22 is provided with two bearing faces 23 and 24 having diiferent radii of ourvature and being offset vertically different distances relative to the ends of the keeper. By this arrangement, cables of a large range of diameters may be clamped in the conductor seat. Nuts 26 and lock washers are provided for holding the keeper piece in place.

In attaching a conductor to an insulator by means of the device described, the bolt heads 2| are first located beneath the pintles i5 and then the cradle i6 is lowered into place with the bolts projecting through the pocket openings. The conductor is then located in the seat and the clamp 22 placed over the ends of the bolts with the bearing seat, which best fits the particular cable, turned downwardly. ,The nuts are then tightened up to secure the conductor in place. By this arrangement, a simple means is provided for securing all the advantages of the pivoted clamp for a conductor mounted on a pin type insulator. The insert ii not only firmly holds the clamping means in place but also acts as an insulated flux control for screening the exposed parts of the fitting and preventing corona from any exposed portion of the fitting. The lower end of the insert ii is, of course, closer to the ground connection than any other part of the fittingso that the electrostatic flux will tend to emanate from the part of the fitting covered by the insulation l0 rather than from any exposed point; and since the end of the fitting II is in direct electrical connection with the surface of the porcelain l0 through the interposed cement, the formation of corona at this point is entirely avoided.

The form of pivotal mounting makes it possible to locate the cable very close to the top of the insulator so as to avoid greatly increasing the cant lever action. The pivotal mounting permits vertical movement of the conductor support at the point where the conductor leaves-the support so as to avoid fatigue of the conductor strands by bending at this point. At the same time, the clamp provides a permanent grip on the conductor which holds the conductor against slipping relative to the insulator, and thus main tains the proper division of the catenary sag between the various conductor supports.

The device is particularly convenient for what is commonly referred to as hot line operations, that is, operations with the conductor energized.

The only equipment that is required is an insulated wrench for loosening the nuts 26, since the same nuts serve to clamp the cable and to lock the conductor support to the insulator. By loosening the nuts 26, the clamp is unlocked from the supporting pinions and loosened on the cable so that it may be slid along the cable out of the way without completely separating the parts of the clamp. This will permit replacement of a defective insulator or other desired operation after which the clamp may be slid into position on the newly installed support and the nuts re-tightened. Simply loosening the nuts is very easily eifected on a hot line, but where it is necessary to remove and replace the parts of the clamp, the operation is much more difllcult.

I claim:

1. An insulator of the pin or post type having a recess in the top thereof, a metal support having a projection cemented in said recess, a hearing pintle carried by said support, and a conductor clamp having a bearing opening therein and engaging said pintle and resting thereon for pivotally supporting a conductor on said pintle said clamp having pivotal movement about the top element of said pintle and having a transversely curved cable seat, the longitudinal axis of said seat extending transversely to the pivotal axis of said seat on said pintle, the bottom of said seat being spaced below the level of said element a. distance approximately equal to the radius of ourvature of said seat.

2. In combination, a support having a pair of pivot studs in axial alignment thereon, a cradle for a conductor, said cradle having pockets engaging said studs, a keeper for holding the conductor in said cradle, and means for locking said pivot studs in said pockets having locking means also holding said keeper in engagement with a conductor in said cradle.

3. A conductor support comprising a cradle, a pivot stud for supporting said cradle, said cradle having a pocket therein for receiving said stud, a keeper for holding a conductor in said cradle, and a bolt for holding said keeper on said cradle and for locking said pivot stud in said pocket.

4. A conductor support comprising a dielectric member having a recess in the top thereof, a metal fitting mounted on said dielectric member and having a projection thereon cemented in said recess, said fitting having upwardly projecting spaced ears, inwardly extending pivot studs mounted on said ears in axial alignment with each other, a. cradle having downwardly opening pockets in the opposite sides thereof for engaging said pivot studs, a keeper for holding a conductor in said cradle, and bolts for holding said keeper on said cradle, the heads of said bolts being disposed across the lower ends of said pockets for locking said pivot studs in said pockets.

5. A conductor support comprising a dielectric member, a fitting mounted on said member and having inwardly extending pivot studs, a cradle having pockets in opposite sides thereof for receiving said studs, a keeper for securing a conductor in said cradle, and a pair of bolts for bolding said keeper on said cradle, the heads of said bolts being arranged to close said pockets to lock said pivot studs in said pockets, the ends of said studs being arranged to engage said bolts to limit movement of said cradle in the direction of the axis of said studs.

6. A conductor support comprising a. pivotal mounting, a clamp pivotally supported on said mounting and common locking means for securing said clamp to a conductor and for locking said clamp on said mounting, said locking means being releasable to permit displacement of said clamp relative to said conductor and to said mounting without completely disassembling said clamp.

7. In combination a clamp for holding a conductor, a pivotal support for said clamp and a common bolt and nut for holding said clamp in engagement with said conductor and for locking said clamp on said pivotal support, said nut being releasable to permit displacement of said clamp relative to said conductor and to said support without completely removing said nut from said bolt.

JOHN J. TAYLOR. 

